


A Perfect Fit

by barbaesparza



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-03 15:28:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13999089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbaesparza/pseuds/barbaesparza
Summary: “And I suppose I am still holding out hope for the mysterious TL,” Rafael admits quietly.Liv pats Rafael’s hand. “I hope you find each other,” she says. “I’m sure they’re waiting for you too.”“Maybe,” Rafael considers with a slight smile. “Their mysterious RB.” He traces his mark under his sleeve with the thumb of his right hand, a force of habit.“There’s someone I want you to meet,” Liv tells him, slightly urgent.“Who?” Rafael asks, distracted.“Trevor Langan,” she answers rapidly.





	A Perfect Fit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tobeconspicuous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobeconspicuous/gifts).



> Happy birthday, dear Maggie! My longtime friend and supporter - I hope you enjoy this, what you've asked everyone for ;) Your two favourite things put together. Your birthday's almost over and you've gone to sleep but LOOK FINALLY A GIFT! Happy birthday, love you <3

Rafael is sitting with Liv in her office after a case, when he notices that she’s taken off her watch. As she leans her chin on her left hand in thought, his eyes bug out. Her wrist is bare.

No soulmark.

“You… you don’t…” he blurts out.

Liv follows Rafael’s eyeline, smiling neutrally.

"Yup. I'm a free agent."

Rafael doesn't know what to say. He's sad for her, but at the same time he envies her a bit.

“That must have been tough when you were young.”

“What, I’m not young now?” Liv jokes, eyes sparkling. “No, it was. But I’m happy now. It’s better this way. Less complicated, depending on how you think about it.”

Rafael nods.

“I suppose-” Rafael stops himself, hesitating.

“It’s fine, you can ask me whatever,” Liv says breezily.

“I, um, I was just wondering, uh… do you only date other people who don’t have soulmates, or…?”

“Mostly. I don’t really plan it out that way, but it sometimes stops it from progressing further. I’ve dated people in the past who hadn’t found their soulmates and in the end it only broke my heart, so…”

Rafael smiles sympathetically.

They sit in silence for a moment before Liv tilts her head at him.

“I’m guessing you have one then?”

“Yeah, at least it looks like it,” Rafael says.

Liv hums. “Have you met…?”

“My soulmate? No,” Rafael answers with a not-quite-bitter laugh.

"Do you...  want to meet them?" Liv questions, curious.

Rafael screws up his lips in thought. "It's changed, over the years. When I was younger, I couldn't wait to meet them. Then, as I got older, it didn't happen and I got tired of waiting. So I just didn't think about it anymore. Now... Now I think about it more and more. They're out there somewhere. I want- I want to know. I'm curious." He pauses, thinking, and Liv doesn't fill the silence. "I don't know if they'll really be perfect for me, you know? I probably won't even like them. But I'd like to at least meet them and see. To have that chance. But that might never happen."

"What does your mark say?"

"TL."

Something sparks in Liv's eyes, but quickly neutralizes. "So you haven't met any TLs."

"Plenty. Tina Lopez, high school. Toby Lu in undergrad, Timothy and Thomas Linton-”

“Twins?” Liv guesses.

“Yeah. I actually dated Tim for a few months, even though we knew we weren’t- But he was really hot,” Rafael says with a light chuckle.

“And Thomas wasn’t?”

“Nah. Not my type.”

Liv looks amused. “Okay.”

“Tom was an annoying, in your face type, you know, constantly talking. Too much. I was glad he wasn’t...”

“Right…”

Rafael pauses, reminiscing.

“And also Tamara Lester, and Terence Lynch, they were all at Harvard, Todd Lim in Brooklyn... You get the idea.”

“Sure,” Liv says. “And none of them were- obviously…”

“Mhm.” Rafael frowns. “It really didn’t stop me from dating. I like to believe love is a choice, anyway. But I haven’t really tried recently. The few times I had tried, they were waiting for their soulmates and didn’t want anyone else.”

“I know,” Liv commiserates.

“And I suppose I am still holding out hope for the mysterious TL,” Rafael admits quietly.

Liv pats Rafael’s hand. “I hope you find each other,” she says. “I’m sure they’re waiting for you too.”

“Maybe,” Rafael considers with a slight smile. “Their mysterious RB.” He traces his mark under his sleeve with the thumb of his right hand, a force of habit.

* * *

“There’s someone I want you to meet,” Liv tells him, slightly urgent.

“Who?” Rafael asks, distracted.

“Trevor Langan,” she answers rapidly.

“Who’s that?”

Liv just keeps dragging him along.

“You’ll see,” she says coyly.

She finally lets go of his arm when they get to her office, a tall man, a _very_ tall man standing there alone, drumming his fingers along the handle of his briefcase.

He turns around when he hears them, and Liv pushes Rafael towards the man, apparently unafraid to get a little violent for this exercise.

The man looks to Liv curiously. “Our ADA, Rafael Barba,” Liv says to the man meaningfully.

The man glances from Liv to Rafael, apparently stunned by something.

Rafael sticks his hand out as a show of good faith, and the man takes it instinctively.

“Raf- _Oh.”_ He lets go of Rafael’s hand, drawing in a breath.

“Yeah,” Rafael gasps, clutching his wrist. “Trevor Langan.”

Trevor’s looking at him in awe, only absentmindedly rubbing over his own wrist with a thumb. His wrist, which says ‘RB’, the letters now glowing white.

Meanwhile, Rafael is in agony, his wrist white hot, feeling like he’s being pierced with a hundred needles concentrated on that small patch of skin. He sits down on the couch, only now noticing that Liv had long kicked herself out of her own office. "No one ever told me about the pain," he says, wincing.

"That's because the thrill of _love_ overshadows it."

Rafael hides his smile behind a scoff.

"Besides, I've been told my kisses are healing," Trevor states with a waggle of his eyebrows, sitting down beside Rafael.

Rafael rolls his eyes. "Nice try."

"I'm just saying what I've been told." Trevor shrugs. "Anyway, I've been looking for you."

"Oh, you have?"

"Of course." Trevor frowns. "Are you saying you weren't looking for me?"

"I wanted to meet you, but I suppose I wasn't actively looking," Rafael says truthfully.

"So now you've met me..." Trevor trails off, leaving a somewhat awkward silence between them.

Rafael clears his throat. "Yes, I have."

"I mean, no pressure or anything, I'll be fine either way, but... do you want to...?"

"Get married?” Rafael suggests, quirking a brow. “Father your children?"

Trevor rolls his eyes hard. "Ha ha. I want to make you dinner. Do you want to? Eat it, I mean."

 _"Do I want to eat it,”_ Rafael echoes incredulously. “Well yeah,” he continues with a smile. “I'd love to."

"Great," Trevor says, smiling wide.

"Uh, usually I don't go home with someone on the first date, just so you know. But, you're a friend of Liv's and I trust her judgment implicitly, so..."

"So it's a date, now?"

Rafael stares, managing not to gape. "Um. Or not, it doesn't- it doesn't matter either way."

"No, I hoped it was, I just wasn't sure if you..."

Rafael chuckles nervously. "Okay. I want it to be too," he says simply, blushing lightly.

Trevor's eyes light up. "I look forward to getting to know you better, Rafael."

"Okay, but you have to give me your number," Rafael says, holding out his phone.

"Oh. Right." Trevor smiles sheepishly and takes it, keying in his number.

Rafael takes it back, bouncing a little. "I'll call you," he says.

"Anytime," Trevor tells him sincerely.

* * *

Rafael calls Trevor the next day, and Trevor asks him to come over the following evening. Rafael agrees anxiously.

He thinks about Trevor way more than he should, considering they’d just met, but more than that, he can’t stop thinking about the possibilities of it. How it could go wrong, how it could go right.

His whole life, he’s watched other people find their soulmates and fall in love, and he’s also seen people end up with soulmates who were actually very, very wrong for them.

He’s waited to meet his soulmate since his mark appeared, and now that he’s met him, he doesn’t know what to expect.

* * *

It’s the day of the date, and Rafael knows he’s been looking forward to that evening, for a reason he can’t pinpoint. The nerves are bubbling under the surface, threatening to escape. He’s usually not this nervous for a date.

He realizes he knows nothing about Trevor. Nothing, except that he’s tall, handsome and his soulmate.

His mark is still giving him trouble, but it’s less pain and more a recurring pressure. He can deal with it. He notices that thoughts of Trevor seem to alleviate the pain somewhat. So really, he has no choice but to think of the man during work.

* * *

When Rafael knocks on the door, Trevor greets him cheerfully, ushering him inside.

The food is already laid out on the table, and Trevor asks Rafael to sit. They get stuck into dinner, both hungry.

Rafael compliments Trevor on his cooking, and Trevor thanks him bashfully.

They settle into each other’s company, talking about their careers, and their friend Liv, and of course soulmates.

Rafael tells him about all the TLs he’s met, still not quite believing that Trevor is _his_ TL, that he’s really found him.

Trevor nods along, looking fascinated.

“What about you?” Rafael asks, curious.

“Oh, I’ve met a few RBs. But I knew each time they weren’t the one. I never felt a thing.”

“Oh?” Rafael’s wrist throbs along with his heart.

“The moment I saw you, I was drawn to you,” Trevor admits. “Then when I heard your name, I knew.”

“You just knew, huh?” Rafael asks, not meaning to sound so skeptical.

Trevor just smiles. “Okay, I hoped. But I also had a very strong inkling.”

Rafael leans back. “If your wrist didn’t start burning up, what would you have done?”

Trevor hesitates. “That’s a good question.”

“I know,” Rafael can’t help but interject.

“I’d like to think I would have tried to get to know you anyway, even though I really wanted to meet my soulmate,” Trevor replies seriously. “Would you have said yes?”

“Yeah,” Rafael says, his lack of hesitation a surprise to even himself. “But…”

“But?” Trevor prompts, his eyes bright and curious.

He looks down at his plate.“I don’t know if I like you because I like you or because you’re my soulmate,” he says slowly, willing himself to meet Trevor’s eyes.

Trevor is silent for a moment before raising his eyebrows. “But you like me?” he asks hesitantly.

Rafael looks away shyly. “I think I definitely could,” he says, cautious.

Trevor smiles hopefully, seemingly satisfied with that answer. “Then forget about your mark, and mine. Let’s just see what happens.”

Rafael agrees, and with the pressure off, he’s able to enjoy the rest of the evening getting to know Trevor.

He’s nervous, but it’s different to before. Instead of immense hope equaled with dread, he’s now pleasantly buzzed, enjoying Trevor’s gentle manner, his clever turn of phrase, just soaking it all in.

He’s undeniably captivated by the man, his TL, his soulmate.

* * *

They’re stood by the door, and truthfully Rafael doesn’t really want to leave, but he knows he should.

“I…” Trevor stops and sighs quietly, clearly nervous.

“Yes?”

“I really wanna kiss you right now, is that something you would-”

Rafael grins, his heart fluttering. “Yeah.”

Trevor smiles helplessly, and it’s so _cute,_ Rafael wastes no time in pulling Trevor down by the neck and pressing their lips together gently.

Trevor gasps, winding his arms around Rafael, and he keeps him close, returning the kiss.

Nothing, _nothing_ could have prepared Rafael for this.

It’s like nothing he’s ever experienced before.

Just that, just the touch of their lips, is everything.

As their lips drag sweetly, Rafael feels sure that this is more than just a kiss.

They sigh against each other, yet unwilling to part, and Rafael suddenly becomes aware of his left wrist.

The pain, though still present, had faded to the back of Rafael’s mind, Now, it’s gone. Now, it’s replaced with a pleasant tingling sensation.

 

As they part reluctantly, Trevor brings his wrist up to peer at it.

“Yours too?” Trevor asks.

Rafael nods.

“Told you my kisses were healing,” he says, looking slightly smug.

“Well,” Rafael replies nonchalantly, “I suppose I could do with a little more, just to be sure.”

Trevor complies immediately, pulling Rafael towards him, their lips meeting again in blissful relief, crackling electricity.

Rafael’s entire body thrums with pleasure, pleasure in Trevor, in the knowledge that Trevor is his soulmate, that they’ve found each other.

When he pulls back for air, Rafael has to stop himself from leaning straight back in. He doesn’t think he’ll leave if he keeps going like this.

He sighs, admiring the faint flush of Trevor’s cheeks. He curls his fingers around Trevor’s wrist, tracing over the letters with his thumb, over the R, then the B, taking both pleasure and pride in the sight.

“I think you’re right,” Rafael says thoughtfully.

“Hm?” Trevor asks, smiling lightly.

“I feel much better after that.”

“Good, good,” Trevor says, eyes sparkling.

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for kissing you,” Trevor teases.

Rafael snorts. “For the evening. And the meal. I really enjoyed tonight,” he says. “Thank you, Trevor.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Trevor says, beaming.

Trevor catches Rafael’s hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

Rafael can’t help but think how right that feels, how perfectly they fit together.

“Will I see you again?” Trevor asks, likely not wanting to assume anything.

“It’d be a shame if I didn’t,” Rafael replies. He finally pulls away to turn the handle of the door as Trevor nods. “Especially when I like you so much,” he says quietly, not daring to look at Trevor as he says it.

Trevor places a hand on Rafael’s arm. “I feel the same, Rafael,” he says sincerely.

Rafael looks up at Trevor, lips parted in surprise. “You do?”

“Of course,” Trevor says emphatically. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

Rafael shakes his head. “People don’t usually like me, and it’s often for that very reason.”

“Well I do, and I’m not like other people,” Trevor says with a frown.

“Yeah, you’re right, you’re not,” Rafael breathes. “I’m so glad.”

“Likewise.” Trevor smiles, and it reaches his eyes.

Rafael feels his self-control fall away, giving Trevor another kiss. A good night kiss, he reasons. Trevor keeps smiling against his lips.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Rafael promises.

Trevor squeezes at Rafael’s hand before letting go. “Sounds perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was a challenge to write, but I had fun doing it! I hope you guys enjoyed it too, thank you so much for reading :)


End file.
